Friction-gear.



J. F. OCONNOR.

`FRICTION GEAR. APPLlcATIoN FILED FEB. 26. 1911.

Patented Des. 10, 1918.

3 SHIEETS-SHEET1l una" I INVENToR JEM F0 IEW/.920. z/zf A Tom/EvWITNESSES:

I. F.VOCONNOR.

FRICTION GEAR.

APPLICATION FILED ri. 26. 1911.

Patented Deo. 10, 1918.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

IN V EN TOR.

Wl TNESSES:

Wf' A TTO EY J. F. OCONNOH.

Fmcnom GEAR. AEPLICATIQN FILED FEB. 26.19711.

Patented Dee. l0, 1918.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3 Si INVENTOR.

BY ATTO EY.

W I TNESSES.'

JOHN F. ocoNNon, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, AssiGNon To WILLIAM H MI'NER, or

CRAZY, NEW YORK.

FRICTION-GEAR.

Application filed February 26, 1917. Serial 110,151,005.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it kiwn that I, JOHN F. OCoNNoR, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in Friction-Gears, ofwhich 1the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of thisSpecification.

This invention relates toimprovements in friction gears.

One object of the invention is to provide a.

friction gear for railway draft riggings having high capacity andcertain release.

Another and more specific object of the invention is to provide afriction gear ofthe type'above indicated wherein are employedv wedgesand friction shoes so arranged that the pressure from the' wedges iswell distributed to the shoes to thereby avoid concentration of thepressure on the shoes at a few points with the resultant improperaction.

In the drawing forming a partl of this specification, Figure 1 is alongitudinal vertical section of a portion of a draft rigging, showingmy improvements in connection therewith. Fig. 2 is a front end elevationof the friction gear proper shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is anenlargedtransverse-vertical sectional view of the friction gear takensubstantially on the line 3-3 of Fig. -1. Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are viewscorresponding respectively to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, but illustrating anotherembodiment of the invention, Fig. 6 being taken oh the line 6-6 of Fig.4. And F igs. 7, 8 and 9are views corresponding to Figs. 1, 2 and 3illustrating a still different embodiment of the invention, Fig. 9 beingtaken on the line 9-9 of Fig. 7.

Referring first to the construction illustratcd in Figs. 1, 2 and 3,10denotes ,the draw bar of a draft rigging to which is secured ayoke l11,the gear designated genorally by the reference A being confined withinthe yoke and between front follower l2 and rear follower 13, saidfollowers cooperating with the usual stops on the draft sills. as will.be understood.

The improved friction gear proper, as shown, comprises a combinedfriction shell and spring casing 14, a plurality of circularly arrangedfriction shoes 15 coperable with theshell, a series of'wedge members 16,

a central wedge block 1.7 a seriesof inner.

Specification of Letters .Patent, 'Patented Dec. 10,1918;

wedge elements 18, a spring follower 19, and I main spring 20 preferablyconsisting of anouter heavy Vcoil and nested lighter inner coil.

The friction shoes are provided with cy,-

lindrical outer friction surfaces to cooperate with the correspondingfriction surfaces of the shell in a well known manner. Eachof1 the shoes15 is provided on its' inner face with an inclined wedge surface 21 withwhich co-acts the adjacentwedge facef22 of Y the corresponding wedgemember 16, it be' i ing understood that there is one wedge memn y ber 16for each shoe 15. 0n their inner'faces,

wardly and outwardly with respect -to the axis of the gear and directlyco-act with the correspondingly arranged outer we dgefaoesl 24 onthecentral 'block 17 The friction shoes are also each provi-ded attheirin-ner ends with forwardly andinwardly inclined wedge faces 25 withwhich directly co-act the correspondingly disposed outer wedge faces 26vof'thewedge elements 18, there bei' xthe wedge members 16 are alsoprovided with wedge faces.v23 which extend rearing one of the latter foreach of the friction shoes. Each of the wedge elements 18 is alsoprovided on its inner face with a forwardly; and outwardly inclinedwedge' surface `27 which directly co-acts with -a correspondinglydisposed wedge face 28 on the rear por` tion of the wedge block 17. Aretaining bolt 29 is extended through suitable perforations in the rearwall of the frictionshell, spring follower 19 and wedge block118. .f

In bufng movement, pressure is transmitted directlyv fro'm the -fron'tfollower 12 to the wedge members 16 and from' the latter outwardlytoythe friction shoes through the wedgefaces 21 and 22. Upon inwardmovement ofthe wedge. members 16 relatively to the other elements of thefriction gear, it isapparent that the central-wedge block 17 will beforced inwardly, thus causL f' ing the inner wedge elements 18 to moveoutwardly or radially, the wedge elements 18 in this movement bearingagainst the inner ends of the friction shoes on the wedge faces 25. Themovement of all the parts is, of course, resisted by the spring 2()through the follower 19. With the ac" ,tion above described, it isapparent that radial pressure is transmitted to the 'frictionshoes fromboth the-wedge members 16 and wedge elements 18 and this radial pressureis applied over a relatively large area of the shoes and at the outerand inner ends, thus eliminatin any tendency for the friction shoes toroc or be loose with re-A .Spect to the friction shell at any point. It

is also apparent, that by varying the various angles of the contactingwedge faces, the outward pressure can be made as highv as necessary andat the same time a certain release is insured since the wedge members 16with the central block 17 will easily disengage from the frictionshoesbecause of the Hare or bell mouth formed by the wedge surfaces 21 of thefriction shoes.

In the construction illustrated in Figs. 4, 5 and 6, the combinedfriction shell and spring casing A and spring therewithin are the sameas shown in the other views. Cooperating with the friction shell Af arefriction shoes 115 arranged in a circular series, each of the frictionshoes l115 having an 1nner rearwardly and inwardly inclined wedgeace'v121 with which co-acts the correspondingly arranged Wedge face 122of a Wedge member 116, thenJ being one of the latter for veach of thefriction ences. Each of the vwedge members 116 is'provided at its innerend with a rearwardly and outwardly inclined wedge face 123 with whichco-acts thecorrespondingly disposed wedge face 124 of a .central wedgemember or block 117. In this construction, the outer heavy coil ofthespring 120a directly engages the friction shoes whereas the innerlighterv coil 120b Theoperation of thehonstruction shown in 4, 5 and 6willl'be apparent from the preceding description of the operation of thestructure shown in the other figures eX- cept that,.in release, theinner coil 120b of the spring will directly assist in forcing the Wedgeelements outwardly.

In the construction illustrated in Figs. 7, 8 and 9, th'e combinedfriction shell and spring casing A2' is similar to those illus- 4tratedin the other vfigures and copcrable therewith are friction shoes 215,each of the latter being provided at its outer end with a rearwardly andinwardly inclined wedge face 221 andat its inner end with an inwardlyand forwardly inclined wedge vface In this construction also, there arewedge members 216, one for each shoe, and each wedge member 216 isprovided on its outer face with an inwardly and rearwardly inclinedwedge face 222 that co-acts with ibamos Afor the construction shown inFigs. 1, 2

and 3.

I claim:

1. In a friction shock absorbing mechanism, the combination with afriction shell, friction shoes coperable with the shell, and springmeans, said friction shoes having inwardly and rearwardly inclined wedgefaces at their forward ends and inwardly and forwardly inclined wedgefaces at their inner ends, of wedge members co-acting with the Wedgefaces at the forward ends of said friction shoes, and separate wedgemeans co-acting with the wedge faces at the inner ends of the frictionshoes, said wedge means being actuated with respect to the frictionshoes by said wedge members.

2. In a friction shock absorbing mechanism, the combination with afriction shell, a 'circularly arranged series of friction shoescopcrable therewith, each of said shoes having oppositely extendingwedge faces on its interior, and spring means, of a the friction shoesat their outer ends, a plurality of wedge elements co-acting with thefriction shoes at their inner ends, and a wedge block interposed betweensaid wedge members, and wedge elements.

3. In a friction shock absorbing mecha- 4nism, the combination with afriction shell,

a circularly arranged series of friction slices copcrable therewith,each of said shoes having oppositely extending wedge faces on itsinterior, and spring means, of a plurality of wedge members co-actingwith the friction shoes at their outer ends, a plurality of .wedgeelements co-acting with the friction The latter also engages the' Aplurality of wedge members co-acting with

